Adobe Acrobat Pro is the best PDF editing software out there but not everyone needs or can afford to pay a subscription for it – especially if you’re a student or teacher.
The good news is you can still buy the older Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020 Student & Teacher Edition for Mac and Windows as a one-time purchase with a lifetime license.
The bad news is that the Educational Edition is no longer available for purchase from the Adobe website anymore.
Fear not though as here we show you how you can still get it with a perpetual license for both Mac and Windows PCs in 2024.
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Acrobat Pro 2020 For Teachers & Students
Students and teachers can still purchase Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020 for just $142.99 with a lifetime license from Best Buy.
This is compared to the usual price of $538.80 for the non-educational edition of Acrobat Pro 2020 with a perpetual license so it’s a significant educational discount of $395.81.
Acrobat Pro 2020 For Mac Student and Teacher Edition is available with a lifetime license as a digital download for $142.99 at Best Buy.
Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020 works on both Intel and M-series chip Macs thanks to Rosetta in macOS which translates Intel only apps like Acrobat 2020 to work with Apple Silicon.
Acrobat Pro 2020 For Windows Student and Teacher Edition is also available on digital download with a lifetime license for $142.99 at Best Buy.
Acrobat Pro 2020 for Windows is compatible with all recent versions of Windows including Windows 11, 10, 8.1 and 8.0.
Be careful before you purchase that you have selected the Mac or Windows Digital Download depending on which platform you are using.
You can do this by clicking on the “Digital” rectangle box in the “Software Format” field on the Best Buy purchase page.
It’s important to be aware however that Adobe Acrobat 2020 does not include any quarterly Acrobat feature updates.
It also does not allow you to access premium Adobe Document Cloud (DC) services such as Adobe Sign via web browser or mobile device.
For more on the differences between the two products check out our look at Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020 vs Acrobat Pro DC.
How To Verify Student or Teacher Status With Adobe
If you purchase Adobe 2020 with your educational email address such as .edu, .k12 or other email provided by an educational institution, you will be instantly verified by Adobe.
If you can’t make the purchase with your school, university or college email address then Adobe may request you upload further proof such as School ID card, Report Card or Tuition bill statement.
For more on this check Adobe’s student teacher eligibility criteria.
Can You Still Buy Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017 Student & Teacher Edition?
The Educational Edition of Adobe Acrobat 2017 is no longer available.
You can still download the standard version of Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017 but it’s no longer available for purchase.
Adobe discontinued Adobe Acrobat 2017 in June 2022 so you cannot buy it with a perpetual license anymore.
End of support means that Adobe will no longer issue security fixes, technical support or bug fixes for Acrobat 2017.
For Mac users, Adobe Acrobat 2017 also only works up to macOS 12 Monterey. It does not work on any version of macOS later than this including macOS Ventura and Sonoma.
Alternative One Time Purchase PDF Software
If this all comes as a disappointment, there are other one time purchase PDF software you can consider as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Examples include PDF Expert, Foxit PDF Editor and Nitro PDF Pro all of which can be purchased one time with a lifetime license.